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A review by swilson4995
Last Man Standing by Craig A. Falconer
3.0
Last Man Standing is, as its title indicates, the story of one man's survival skills in the face of massive catastrophe. A scientist in the field of bleeding-edge energy sources, Ray is a visiting researcher on board a corporate-owned space station in near-future Earth's orbit. But when the day of his research breakthrough, a day meant to be filled with congrats and plans for home, gets interrupted by disaster, he'll call on every skill he has to make it home and save humanity.
Heavily reminiscent of Andy Weir's near future fiction, I nevertheless highly appreciated the mundane bend to the main character, Ray. He's an expert in his field, all right, but that doesn't mean he has a lick of sense or a clue where comes to any topic beyond the research that he's devoted his life to. I liked the realism inherent in that characterization: the myopia of advanced research that means, contrary to how scientists are often portrayed in fiction, they are not experts in everything.
As the readers, we are tightly wound up in Ray's perspective and backstory. The effect is humanizing, but can lean towards repetitive at times. He's not the most interesting character out there. However, beyond his thoughts about the matter the turning points and plot happenings carry on a stellar clip, with some reveals expected and others wholly surprising. Last Man Standing would be an enjoyable read (along with its follow-ups) for anyone enamoured of The Martian and looking for more.
Heavily reminiscent of Andy Weir's near future fiction, I nevertheless highly appreciated the mundane bend to the main character, Ray. He's an expert in his field, all right, but that doesn't mean he has a lick of sense or a clue where comes to any topic beyond the research that he's devoted his life to. I liked the realism inherent in that characterization: the myopia of advanced research that means, contrary to how scientists are often portrayed in fiction, they are not experts in everything.
As the readers, we are tightly wound up in Ray's perspective and backstory. The effect is humanizing, but can lean towards repetitive at times. He's not the most interesting character out there. However, beyond his thoughts about the matter the turning points and plot happenings carry on a stellar clip, with some reveals expected and others wholly surprising. Last Man Standing would be an enjoyable read (along with its follow-ups) for anyone enamoured of The Martian and looking for more.